On Being Driven By Feelings, Not Profit: Sweeney Brown of Art is Dirty
What does it look like to pursue your creative side-hustle full-time? As we gear up for our fall craftHER Market Week, we’ll touch base with a few of our vendors to share their stories on how they scaled their small business to support themselves.
Today, we’re spotlighting Art is Dirty owner Sweeney Brown, a visual artist, writer and ceramicist. In this interview, Sweeney talks with us about how they overcome unexpected challenges, finding work/life balance as a creative business owner, and what led them to take the leap in making Art is Dirty a full-time job.
MEET THE MAKER: Sweeney Brown
Sweeney Brown is a prolific visual artist and writer based in Minneapolis. Brown’s artistic voice is honest and raw, delving into topics of love, crushes, trauma, fear, sobriety and peace of mind. Thoughtful, intelligent, sometimes heartbreaking and delicate, there are many stories laid bare or hidden in each piece. Having received no formal art training, Sweeney has the freedom to make art without rules. Sweeney combines their ceramic work with photography, illustrations, poetry and personal essays, and their ability to shift between mediums is groundbreaking. Their work invites you to sit with pain, trauma and love, encouraging the viewer to consider their own stories and how they relate to the work. There is no separation between Sweeney Brown and their art. They both exist in the same space. They are one and the same.
We’d love to hear a little bit about you and your business. :) Who are you, and what do you make?
My name is Sweeney, and I make art about feelings. Primarily, I’m a text artist and I use my writing in whatever medium is available. I trained myself in ceramics for the past eight years and it’s how I’ve made my living, but I’m not confined to clay. Currently, I’m living on the road and haven’t had access to kilns or clay, so I’m making due with what I have around me. For me, art is a feeling and I have a lot of them.
When did you start your business?
I started making ceramics about eight years ago as a way to cope with the loss of my dad and art mentor. I was a painter previously and a photographer earlier on in my career, and I found I had a little more freedom and room to roam with ceramics and text.
What motivated you to start?
Before becoming a full-time artist, I worked in the service industry. My brain was never cut out for what some may consider a ‘real job’ and art has always been more about surviving this chaotic life than work, so I stuck with it. I made my art work for me and in turn, I lived. I don’t consider my artwork a business. I consider it a necessity, I make my work to heal myself, and I’m thankful to be able to support myself with it.
Looking back, what were some challenges you experienced that you weren’t expecting?
My work is honest and I get pretty vulnerable. Not everyone agrees with the things I say or put out there, and I’ve spent many days picking apart my own pieces. For the most part, though, I think I’m helping others feel less alone in their own darkness, and that really motivates a lot of my work. We’re all going through something, and it’s wild to know that most of those ‘somethings’ are very similar.
Describe your creative process. How do you make things and get in the headspace to make things?
My brain is constantly creating, but my body isn’t always up for it. I take my time and I sit with uncomfortable feelings until they’re ready to work for me. I use my emotions and I don’t push it. I wait until I feel it, until I can’t keep it in.
Let’s talk about time management—how do you find work/life balance as a creative business owner?
I don’t rush and I don’t push myself to be as productive as I used to. A year ago, I’d stress and work 60 hour weeks so I could just barely sustain myself (pay rent, bills, food, studio bills, clay, etc). The more art I sold, the more it cost, and the harder I’d have to work. It was a never-ending cycle, and I needed to slow down. So I did. Now my art is thought-driven instead of profit-driven, and I can still sustain myself. It took a lot of work to get to where I am now, and I’m thankful for those years.
What are some of the key advantages and disadvantages of working on a side-hustle versus working on your business full-time?
I taught myself how to make ceramics, and it was definitely a side-hustle early on. For the first two years, I just used it as a way to break up my day. I’d work (as a house cleaner) all day and come home to work with my clay. I’d sell it to pay for more clay and firing and that’s about it. I didn’t have the time or energy to put much more into artwork, so I didn’t feel all that creative.
It’s great to see that you can work on your creative business full-time now. :) What experience and/or moment made that pivot possible?
Three years after I started working with clay, it became my full-time job. I hustle harder when I have to, and letting go of a safety net and solid income was the push I needed to become reliant on art as a sole source of income. I succeeded by working my ass off, and that feels pretty great.
What’s been the most rewarding thing about owning your own business?
The most rewarding thing about being an independent artist is freedom. I can say no more often. I don’t have to follow anybody’s rules. I make my own hours and expectations, and I can work as fast or slow as I’d like. I’m the boss, and all the other stresses of self-reliance pale in comparison to the feeling of being in charge of my life.
How have you pivoted or adapted to the current changes happening in the world? What did this pandemic bring up for you? (This answer does not have to be positive—just truthful.)
I live on the road in an RV which adds a whole different layer to the hectic world we live in right now. I’ve had to adapt and move around in a different way. I’ve had to sell art in a less intimate way. I don’t know what the future is going to look like, but I never did before the pandemic so I’m adjusting. I make art about feelings and this one is a hard feeling to work with, but I’m trying.
Is there any final advice or lessons you want to share with other women and nonbinary creatives that are looking to start their own business or taking that leap from side-hustle to full-time?
My advice is to just do it! If you spend as much energy on your own business as you do working for someone else, you’ll be successful. It’ll be hard at first and you’ll be broke… so, so broke, but you can do it! You just have to let go.